


Hereafter

by Whenly



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Character Death, Clay | Dream-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Mental Health Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:20:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29809002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whenly/pseuds/Whenly
Summary: Dream sat across the room watching his clock. It was almost sunrise, all he could think about was the community house.He would sit there with George and Sapnap, watching the sky change colours. A deep blue to a beautiful light blue. It felt bittersweet to imagine now.He remembered Sapnap's visit. He deserved to be here, in the prison.A tight grasp on his lungs, the blurry vision, the constant whispering that had been there for ages.He watched the clock now, feeling his control slip again as he stood. He strode across the room, taking the clock in hand. His vision got blurry and static filled his head.He felt himself walking towards the lava and could practically hear Sam threaten not to give him another clock.By the time the lava met the tips of his fingers, holding the clock tighter, he couldn't see anymore. His vision was replaced with black static as it took more and more of his consciousness.He welcomed it now, though. As his figure slowly but surely was completely consumed in lava. The lava felt so close to a hug, almost a relief.He felt himself relaxe as the lava burned flesh from bone. He finally felt free as his consciousness slipped again.
Relationships: Cara | CaptainPuffy & Clay | Dream, Clay | Dream & Floris | Fundy, Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/Luke | Punz
Comments: 8
Kudos: 145





	Hereafter

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this the day Sapnap visited Dream in prison, which was quite a bit ago. So, the timeline of this story doesn’t include anything from when Tommy visited again or Tommy dying or anything of that sort.

He could hear a light sloshing of water, the light buzzing of insects humming in the general area. He could feel grass against his back and warm sunlight on his face. 

His body felt heavy. He tried to open his eyes to see where he was but his body just felt so heavy. Every attempted movement felt so heavy, like a part of him was missing. Like he was given a new body and didn't know how to control it's weight.

But then he felt his fingers move and it was so light, like there was no longer the mental weight, the mental weight he's become so used to feeling. Since before the prison, since before doomsday, before Tommy's exile, and even before the l'manburg war. He felt like he was floating with the new found liberty.

Slowly but surely he gained movement again. Started with wiggling his fingers and toes, slowly working up to moving his hand to cover his eyes. It was so bright now, he was used to the dark static. 

There was no dark static, though. There were no whispers either. He felt his heart rate pick up at the thought of the them, the thought of the haze. His mind was clear for once. His mind finally felt clear.

He smiled as he dragged his hand down his face. He felt free. He pushed himself up despite the shakiness in his limbs.

He looked around, taking in his surroundings, right outside the community house. He could tell it was rebuilt, could remember what it looked like destroyed. There were so many people, a general feeling of unitedness and confidence, even with the underlying fear. 

He couldn't remember much else than the feeling, though. The feeling and the image of the community house gone. But it was rebuilt now.

He walked towards the house. The architecture was improved from what he, Sapnap, and George had done. He could feel his smile grow as he hurried inside with a child like joy.

The door pulled closed behind him as he looked around the inside giving a playful twirl as he got a 360 view. It was nice, so nice. Better than he, or George, or Sapnap, or even Bad, could've ever built it.

He settled against a wall, just admiring what was built on the prior destruction.

_This is where you belong._

He looked around for Sapnap, he could visit Sapnap now. He could visit George too. Maybe George didn't want to see him, though. He hadn't visited while he was in prison, Dream didn't blame him, but why would he want to see him now. Sapnap probably wouldn't want to see him out of the prison either. 

Prison was where he belonged, after all. He should've stayed there. He couldn't even remember how he got out. His entire time in the prison was just small windows between the black static, constant whispers and a tight grasp on his lungs while he was coherent. He remembered Bad and Sapnap had visited, it was foggy but the memories were there.

He remembered Sam bringing him clocks often. Remembered the whispers making him hold it all the time, watch it or they'd take control back. Even when he walked towards the lava, looking for any form of comfort with the heat reminding him of Sapnap's embrace or George's smile.

The door opened and a gust of cool air prickled at his skin, reminding him of how lonely he was. They wouldn't visit again, they said they'd visit as often as possible but he watched the clock. He watched the clock like an obsession, couldn't peal his eyes away as day after day and night after night flew by. 

He felt his lip quiver, looking into the clock. He sniffled a little, closing his eyes to stop any tears from falling. He got up to head to the wall of lava, to once again look for any last bit of comfort available to him.

The lava wasn't there though, it was the community house wall. The weight of the clock left his hand like it was never actually there. Captain Puffy standing in front of a now closed door, eyes wide as she stared at him.

There were no whispers, there was no static, no grip on his lungs, no demands for compliance. It was just him, him in his own head and Puffy standing just an arms length away.

"Momma?" His voice cracked as he said it, struggling not to completely break down. He could feel his hands shaking, a grip on his lungs completely unlike what he was used to. 

"Duckling?" She sounded so confused, her hand tightened slightly on the axe in her hand. Dream forced himself to ignore it, forced the thought of her viewing him as a threat out of his head.

He took a step towards her, shaky as ever, looking for any form of comfort. She stepped back in reaction and Dream immediately stopped, you don't belong here. He could feel tears breaking through his thin and shaky mask of passivity.

He could feel sobs forming at the base of his throat and he brought his hands up to hide his face. His shaky legs began to give out, and he fell to his knees. It felt like his world was collapsing around him.

His feeling of blissful unawareness he'd been so used to for so long seeping through his fingers. The unawareness that came the the dark static gone now. He was being forced to face the terror he some how caused. 

He could hear Puffy's startled gasp from across the room as he dropped to his knees, as his distress became auditory. He could hear the few, quick steps she took to reach him. His sobs grew harsher and his hands burned at the touch of his tears.

She fell to the ground too, grabbing his shoulder to pull him in for a hug. When her hand landed on his shoulder there was only the slightest of resistance before Dream's body became translucent. Her hand dipped inside his frame and she immediately flinched back at the sight.

Dream flinched back too, at the sudden movement but also the the implications of her backing away again. The implications of him being alone again, alone forever.

Puffy regained control as quickly as possible, going back to his side. Placing a hand on the side of his face, not light enough to break that little bit of resistance again. She gently hushed him, running her thumb over his hand that was digging too harshly into his eyes. 

"You're okay now, you're safe now." She tried to calm him as best as possible and slowly but surely it worked. His harsh sobs shifting into quiet crying, and again into soft whimpers.

She whispered words of encouragement to him, softly ran her hands through his hair, and trying not to show her fear when her hands dipped below his skin. When he turned slightly transparent and she could see where her fingers sink deeper into his form than they should.

When he finally looked up at her, angry red lines where tears had burned their way down the sides of his face. Soft sniffles as he finally met her eyes, he looked so broken. His posture so frail, as if he could be broken with a wrong touch or word. 

"What happened, my duckling?" She saw his bottom lip quiver at the nickname, a small sob slipping out as he looked away again.

"I'm sorry." He whispered it so quietly that she had to strain to hear it. His lips barely moved, so subtle she could be convinced that it wasn't him who said it.

"Dream," she paused for a minute, watching him shrink into himself at his name, "you know I'm not who you should be apologizing to." She could see him try to make himself even smaller. He made a small noise of acknowledgement.

"No one will come through, but we can go somewhere else. Maybe less in the open." She could see Dream panic at her offer. Like he'd done something wrong, like it'd be dangerous to be alone with someone, even if it was her. 

"Please, no. I like it here." His voice was so shaky, like he wouldn't have a choice, like he wouldn't have control over himself. All she could think about was what must've happened in the prison. She should've visited him at least, should've visited him before something happened. 

'Cause something clearly had, her son's ghost was in front of him crying and scared for a life he didn't have any more. She should've at least asked Sam about his living conditions, should have at least visited him once, because something had clearly gone wrong. She felt so bad but she couldn't get an idea out of her head.

"You like it here?" He nodded lightly, "Then why did you destroy it?" She asked as lightly as possible. She didn't want to scare him anymore than he already was but she needed answers, everyone did. 

"I wouldn't do that." His voice was more firm than before. Still shaky, but he seemed certain. "No, you know I wouldn't do that. Why would you say that, I didn't do that."

His voice shook and cracked as he said it, his eyes began to water again. He knew he had done something. He had done something wrong, something very bad. _This is where you belong._ Sapnap had told him, he remembered that he belonged in the prison, he did something bad enough to be there. But the community house? He'd never destroy the community house.

"You destroyed the community house, you blew up l'manburg, you did horrible things to Tommy, you threatened to kill Tubbo, so much more that I don't even know about yet." Puffy listes them quickly, counting them off on her fingers like it was nothing. Like she wasn't accusing him of things he knew for a fact he'd never do. 

"Momma, please." He sounded so desperate like if Puffy didn't listen, if she didn't believe him, he'd be broken in two. "Wilbur blew up l'manburg, you know that. And I wouldn't threaten to hurt Tubbo, he's just a kid. Tommy too, they're both kids, I wouldn't hurt them."

He was desperate, almost yelling as tears began to fall again. More angry, red, burning lines tracing down his face. Puffy was crying too, this was the Dream she knew, not a power hungry tyrant, he was a caring and bright young boy. A boy who knew right from wrong.

"What do you remember? From when you were alive, what do you remember?" She looked down at her hands, now tucked together in her lap as she shifted. Dream watched her hands too, noticing how reluctant she was to hug him, to touch him, or hold him. 

She noticed his reluctance to talk and continued, "are they happy like Wilburs?" Dream thought for a minute and nodded, "what are some?" Dream stayed quiet for a few more seconds, thinking between a few memories.

"I remember Sap and George and I, we built the community house together. I remember we were gonna go farther, maybe to an ocean shore, but stopped here because George was tired and didn't want to walk any longer." George had immediately fallen asleep, he and Sapnap promised to work on a house over night but they hadn't. They sat around a campfire the entire night talking about everything and nothing. George had to build it himself while they slept through the next day.

He shifted from his knees, opting to pull them closer to his chest as he continued to think of his past. It felt better like this, if he was smaller, Puffy wouldn't have to see him as a threat.

"I remember how you'd always have to patch up my clothes when I was a kid, cause I wouldn't stop scratching holes in them. I remember the apple pies you'd make before I left with George and Sap, they were always so good." Puffy could feel herself smile at the memory. It had been ages since she'd thought of him as a kid, but the memories were always beautiful. Dream could remember craving the pie all the time, nothing could ever compare, though. Even when Niki came along and baked so many sweets, her apple pies never came close.

"I remember meeting Fundy, he'd wander the woods near us when Wilbur was having a fit or an attack. But it became a habit to meet with him when we were both free." He remembered Sapnap always made fun of him because he pouted when Fundy had to leave. There was always a childish excitement he felt when Fundy came along, he couldn't remember one instance where he wasn't smiling in adoration when he was around. It was different from how he felt about Sap and George, more personal, a deeper connection.

"During Tommy's exile, I remember we made a tent together, Wilburs were always better but we tried. When he started planning the beach party we built and entire area, it looked really nice." Dream could feel a smile tug at his lips as he continued through his memories. Even with the headache inducing blacks static and nausea, his times with Tommy were some of his fondest memories. There was never a dull moment with Tommy, always some new bit or new activity that occupied their time.

"When the community house was destroyed, and everyone was gathered around, together. That was nice." Just the thought of it gave him anxiety, there was so much static that day. He could only remember a moment of it, and he knew he barely had control there, but there was such a large sense of community that day. Everyone was together, he hadn't seen that in ages, if ever. 

Puffy sparked up at that, a deep look of concern dawning her face, fear and sadness washed in and out of her expression as well.

"You remember the community house being destroyed?" She asked, almost a panicked tone to her voice. He nodded lightly, he didn't remember it being destroyed but he was there for the aftermath, like everyone.

"Dream, you need to go talk to Sam. You belong in the prison, I don't know how you got out but you need to serve your time." He tried to look her in the eyes but she avoided his, avoided his eyes like the plague. His heart beat picked up again. _You belong here._ He felt alone again, in the cold damp cell. No one would visit unless it was to berate him or tear down his spirits. 

There wasn't a point in arguing, it'd get him nowhere and he knew that. He didn't deserve to be a free man. He didn't deserve that. He deserved to be alone. He deserved this. 

"Okay."

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to say that with the type of story I’m writing, it shifts the blame of what Dream did off of him.
> 
> In this story Dream was completely possessed and had no control of the things he did. In fact as you continue to read you’ll find that he barely remembers any of the terror he has caused. 
> 
> The Dream I have written is not c!Dream. 
> 
> C!Dream is a terrible person, a true villain and I stand by that. He 100% deserves to be locked in the prison.
> 
> I’d say, even the Dream in this story deserves to be in the prison seeing as he is still the one who caused so much trauma.
> 
> But that’d be boring to write, so here I am writing dead, victim Dream interacting with the rest of the server.


End file.
